Denver Police are confiscating so much weed that they are running out of space to store it

Denver Police are confiscating so much weed that they are running out of space to store it

WATCH: Denver Police struggle with cannabis.

Marijuana may be legal in Colorado, but the Denver Police Department said officers are confiscating more weed than ever before. In fact, they are running out of space to store it all.

Now, the department is asking the Denver City Council to approve $125,116 in the 2017 budget so they can handle the thousands of pounds of marijuana confiscates each year, according to the Denver Post.

We're no longer getting small amounts like we used to.

Lt. Cliff Carney

Lt. Cliff Carney, who manages the department's evidence division, told the Denver Post that officers who reported finding 15 to 20 plants in some basements are now finding 1,000 to 1,500 plants since Colorado legalized the drug.

He added that the increase in volume took the department by surprise.

Carney said he doesn't know what caused the uptick, but said his guess is that before it became legal, marijuana growers calculated how much they could get caught possessing without getting a criminal charge. When the drug was legalized, growers became bolder and thought they could get away growing more and more.

"People lost track and forgot that law is still on the books," he told the Denver Post.

Carney explained that marijuana usually comes to his bureau in the form of either fresh dried plants or packaged weed.

The processed weed can sit in the bureau for years, but the plants quickly rot and aren't there for long.

Live plants usually arrive in boxes of 10 to 12. Carney said the bureau has received as many as 300 boxes at a time.

The plants are typically sent to a lab to be tested to confirm that they are actually marijuana. From there the plants are composted, according to the Denver Post.

According to FOX News, Denver police were among the first in the nation to compost marijuana plants.

In order to do so, police must receive a court order each time.

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